A LUXE EF­FECT

ADD A DASH OF VEL­VET FOR A LUXE EF­FECT

LIZ Hayward, an avid trav­eller and buyer for Coco Re­pub­lic, loves the lux­u­ri­ous feel that vel­vet adds to a space, es­pe­cially in win­ter.

“I’ve re­ally come around to work­ing with vel­vet in the home,’’ Hayward says.

“The lux­u­ri­ous tex­ture can en­hance any room with el­e­gant flair.’’

It’s no sur­prise that vel­vet has been used by aris­to­crats and roy­alty in fash­ion and home – it is plush, rich and sump­tu­ous.

“But it’s im­por­tant not to overuse vel­vet – the re­sult can be over­bear­ing,’’ Hayward says.

“Lit­tle touches in the uphol­stery of a chair or set­tee are per­fect and you sim­ply can’t go wrong by adding a vel­vet cush­ion in a liv­ing space or bed­room.’’

Hayward says the golden rule is to re­mem­ber that you don’t need to leave cot­tons and linens to em­brace lux­u­ri­ous vel­vet. Lay­er­ing can be the key.

The down­side of vel­vet is that it’s not as durable as other fab­ric and does wear away af­ter years of use.

“If you want to add this tex­ture in a liv­ing space, depend­ing on us­age it might be wise to use vel­vet to up­hol­ster a pair of oc­ca­sional chairs,” she says. “It’s def­i­nitely a warm ma­te­rial so in win­ter, why not add a vel­vet throw or du­vet to your bed.”

Jonathan Adler’s Lam­pert sofa in vel­vet (above) is all about glam­our, co­core­pub­lic.com.au. Vel­vet bean bag by Kip + Co (be­low right) is a cost-ef­fec­tive way to add lux­ury, cranmorehome.com.au. Vel­vet cush­ions are a warm ad­di­tion in win­ter, au­ra­home.com.au.